Idle pondering: State names.

I have long noticed something interesting in my reading of US news: All the states have nicknames. I'm not sure quite what importance these names have, but I am aware of them because some news sites like to use them. Take, for example, these current stories from OneNewsNow:

Courts in The Golden State are giving the definition of a "parent" a makeover. The Sacramento Bee reports that state courts have assigned the title to individuals who have "no genetic or legal ties" to children, granting the roles to non-traditional figures.

If a lawsuit described by family advocates as "frivolous" is successful, it could have dire consequences on the definition of marriage in The Tar Heel State.

I see the same thing from the FRC frequently - though careful to always give the conventional name as well, they seem to like dropping the state nickname into their news casually.

I'm not sure why they do this. Perhaps it is supposed to be a demonstration of their patriotism via trivia - implying that only a True American would learn the nicknames of the states. Or an effort to appear less formal.

It just seems strange to me. It occurs often enough that the FRC and ONN must have it set in policy, but I'm not sure why.